Cheers & Jeers

Treasures that washed ashore this week; flotsam we hope the next tide carries away:

Treasures that washed ashore this week; flotsam we hope the next tide carries away:

Too many bosses

Thumbs down to the Truro selectmen, who have not conducted an annual performance review of Police Chief John Thomas for at least six years.

Although the selectmen are ironing out a new policy to improve their management of the chief, they still fail to relinquish control of this function to the town administrator.

Truro is one of the few departments in the state where the chief reports to an elected board rather than the professional manager hired to run the town.

Circuit energized?

The Cape Cod Commission and the town of Barnstable put on their best poker faces and got the developers of a Circuit City store to raise the ante — putting $800,000 toward the town purchase of vacant properties on the Airport Rotary. Now the redevelopment project can go forward.

The fly in this ointment is the full purchase price, which taxpayers don't yet know, and that's on top of taking commercial property off the tax roll. The best use of those properties would be to accommodate a widened and better-engineered rotary. Traffic flow, after all, was the big holdup here.

Rebates for all

Rebate checks for all Americans to kick-start the economy is probably a good idea; experience proves it works. At first, the Republicans wanted to send checks only to those who pay taxes, bypassing some 45 million citizens whose incomes are so small they don't pay taxes. They, of course, are precisely the people who would quickly spend the check, which is the desired goal of the rebate program. Fortunately, bipartisan negotiations this week resulted in a provision that would include those who do not pay taxes.

A shot in the arm

Boston Mayor Tom Menino and his city health board have blocked the in-store clinics CVS has proposed around the state. Menino thinks they will compete with the city's community clinics.

The community clinics are a fine system, but in-store clinics represent low-cost, convenient alternatives for people who may not be plugged into the mainstream heath system. Let CVS contribute its experience and capital to serve the greater good.